A resident of Madras is called a Madraste. According to the provisional population results of 2011, the city had a population of 4,681,087, with a density of 26,903 per km² and the urban agglomeration had a population of 8,696,010. The city registered a growth rate of 7.77% during the period 2001–2011. In 2001, the population density in the city was 24,682 per km² (63,926 per mi²), while the population density of the metropolitan area was 5,922 per km² (15,337 per mi²), making it one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The Madras metropolitan area is the fourth most populated agglomeration in India and 31st largest urban area in the world The sex ratio is 951 females for every 1,000 males, slightly higher than the national average of 944. The average literacy rate rose from 85.33% in 2001 to 90.33% in 2011, much higher than the national average of 79.5%. However, the city has the fourth highest population of slum dwellers among major cities in India, with about 820,000 people (18.6% of the city’s population) living in slum conditions. According to 2011 census, the Madras district has 11 lakh households, with 51% of them living in rented houses.
A study conducted by the National Housing Bank on the residential price index of Indian cities showed that Madras experienced the highest growth after the 2008–2012 global financial crisis. According to a study by 99acres.com in 2011, Madras real estate saw an average price appreciation of 7 per cent with Tambaram, Chrompet and Thoraipakkam leading the way. Medical tourism is another important part of Madras’s economy with 45 percent of total medical tourists to India making to Madras. The Tamil film industry and the Tamil television industry are also significant parts of Madras’s economy. The city also has a permanent exhibition complex in Nandambakkam called the Madras Trade Centre. An estimated 100,000 people in the city have assets over 50 million. The city is the third largest market in India for luxury cars.
According to the provisional results of 2011 census, the city had 4.68 million residents making it the sixth most populous city in India; the urban agglomeration, which comprises the city and its suburbs, was home to approximately 8.9 million, making it the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the country and 31st largest urban area in the world. Madras’s economy has a broad industrial base in the automobile, computer, technology, hardware manufacturing and healthcare sectors. As of 2012, the city is India’s second largest exporter of information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) services. A major part of India’s automobile industry is based in and around the city thus earning it the nickname “Detroit of India”. Madras is an important centre for Carnatic music and hosts a large cultural event, the annual Madras Music Season, which includes performances by hundreds of artists. The city has a diverse theatre scene and is one of the important centres for Bharata Natyam, a classical dance form. The Tamil film industry, colloquially known as Kollywood, is based in the city. The city is host to the third largest expatriate population in India after Mumbai and Delhi, with 35,000 in 2009 and steadily climbing to 82,790 in 2011.
After Independence, the city witnessed a rise in the Modernism style of architecture. The completion of the LIC Building in 1959, the tallest building in the country at that time, marked the transition from lime-and-brick construction to concrete columns in the region. The presence of the weather radar at the Madras Port, however, prohibited the construction of buildings taller than 60 m around a radius of 10 km. In addition, the floor-area ratio (FAR) in the central business district is also 1.5, much less than that of smaller cities of the country. This resulted in the city expanding horizontally, unlike other metropolitan cities where vertical growth is prominent. On the contrary, the peripheral regions, especially on the southern and south-western sides, are experiencing vertical growth with the construction of buildings up to 50 floors.
After India gained its independence in 1947, the city became the capital of Madras State, which was renamed as Tamil Nadu in 1969. The violent agitations of 1965 against the compulsory imposition of Hindi in the state marked a major shift in the political dynamics of the city and eventually it had a big impact on the whole state. On 26 December 2004, an Indian Ocean tsunami lashed the shores of Madras, killing 206 people in Madras and permanently altering the coastline.
After the British gained possession of the area in the 17th century, the two towns, Madraspattinam and Chennapattinam, were merged, and the British referred to the united town as Madrasapattinam. The state government officially changed the name to Madras in 1996, at a time when many Indian cities were being renamed. However, the name Madras continues to be occasionally used for the city, as well as for places named after the city, such as the University of Madras and The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
As of 2007, nine mobile phone service companies operate nine GSM networks and two CDMA networks in the city. There are four land line companies. Commercial and domestic broadband Internet services are provided by all the four service providers and a majority of the mobile network service providers. Madras was the first Indian city to have the Wi-Fi facility in a widespread manner. As of 2010, there were 9.8 million mobile phone users in Madras. In 2010, Madras had the fourth highest number of active Internet users in India, with 2.2 million users.
As of 2011 (prior to the expansion of Madras Corporation area), Madras city had a sanctioned strength of 14,000 police personnel. With a population density of 26,903 persons per square kilometre, the city had 1 policeman for every 413 people. The Madras suburban police had about 4,093 police personnel and a ratio of 1:1,222. In 2010, the crime rate in the city was 169.2 per 100,000 people, as against an average of 341.9 in the 35 major cities of India. In 2011, North Madras zone had 30 police stations and 3 police out posts, Central Madras zone had 28 police stations and 3 police out posts, and South Madras zone had 30 police stations.
As of 2012, an estimated population of 11,116 (0.16 percent) were homeless. Per Supreme Court guidelines, the city needs 65 shelters for the homeless. However, it has only 15, of which 8 are functioning and two are under renovation.
Availability of power has become a concern in recent years due to increasing demand and slow paced addition of power plants, due to which scheduled power cuts have become increasingly common. However this situation is expected to be rectified soon by the end of 2013. As of 2012, the total electricity consumption by the street lamps in the city is 19 MW a day, costing about 2,00,00,000 per month to run. The 426 sq km of the city has over 220,000 streetlights, including 88,000 in the newly expanded areas.
Being the capital of the Madras Province that covered a vast area of the Deccan region, Madras remained the centre of politics in the southern region of India during the British era. After Independence, it remained the centre of political activities of the state of Tamil Nadu. Madras is the birthplace of the idea of the Indian National Congress, commonly known as the Congress Party. Founded by Indian and British members of the Theosophical Society movement, most notably A.O. Hume, the idea was originally conceived in a private meeting of 17 men after a Theosophical Convention held in the city in December 1884. During the first 50 years of the Indian National Congress, the city played host to its conferences seven times in 1887, 1894, 1898, 1903, 1908, 1914 and 1927, becoming one of the strong bases for the Indian independence movement. After independence, the city hosted the Congress in 1955 in its suburb of Avadi.
Madras Book Fair, an annual book fair organized in Madras by the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI), is the largest exhibition for Tamil book publishers to display their books. The fair is typically held for about 10 days between the last week of December and the third week of January. Thirty-fifth edition of the fair was held on 2012.
Madras city is governed by the Madras Corporation (formerly “Corporation of Madras”), which was established in 1688. It is the oldest municipal corporation in India and the second oldest corporation in the world. In 2011, the jurisdiction of the Madras Corporation was expanded from 174 km2 (67 sq mi) to an area of 426 km2 (164 sq mi), dividing into three regions—North, South and Central, which covers 200 wards. The corporation is headed by an Indian Administrative Service officer. The Mayor and councillors of the city are elected through a popular vote by the residents. While the city limit was expanded to 426 km2 in 2011, the revised population is yet to be officially announced.
Madras has a tropical wet and dry climate. The city lies on the thermal equator and is also on the coast, which prevents extreme variation in seasonal temperature. The weather is hot and humid for most of the year. The hottest part of the year is late May to early June, known regionally as Agni Nakshatram (“fire star”) or as Kathiri Veyyil, with maximum temperatures around 35–40 °C (95–104 °F). The coolest part of the year is January, with minimum temperatures around 15–22 °C (59–72 °F). The lowest temperature recorded is 13.8 °C (56.8 °F) and the highest recorded temperature is 45 °C (113 °F) The average annual rainfall is about 140 cm (55 in). The city gets most of its seasonal rainfall from the north–east monsoon winds, from mid–October to mid–December. Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal sometimes hit the city. The highest annual rainfall recorded is 257 cm (101 in) in 2005. Prevailing winds in Madras are usually southwesterly between April and October and northeasterly during the rest of the year. Historically, Madras has relied on annual monsoon rains to replenish water reservoirs, as no major rivers flow through the area. Madras has a water table at 2 metres for 60 percent of the year.
Madras has world-class medical facilities, including both government-run and private hospitals. The government-aided hospitals include General Hospital, Adyar Cancer Institute, TB Sanatorium, and National Institute of Siddha. The National Institute of Siddha is one of the seven apex national-level educational institutions that promote excellence in Indian system of medicine and Ayurveda. Some of the popular private-run hospitals in Madras are Apollo Hospitals, Chettinad Health City, MIOT Hospitals and Vasan Healthcare. The prime NABH-accredited hospitals includes Madras Apollo Speciality Hospital, Dr Mehta Hospitals, Frontier Lifeline Hospital, Global Hospitals & Health City, Sankara Nethralaya, and Vijaya Medical & Educational Trust. Madras attracts about 45 percent of health tourists from abroad and 30 percent to 40 percent of domestic health tourists. The city has been termed India’s health capital.
Madras hosts the headquarters of the Southern Railway. The city has two main railway terminals. Madras Central station, the city’s largest, provides access to other major cities as well as many other smaller towns across India, whereas Madras Egmore provides access to destinations primarily within Tamil Nadu; however, it also handles a few inter–state trains. The Madras suburban railway network, one of the oldest in the country, facilitates transportation withinn the city. It consists of four broad gauge sectors terminating at two locations in the city, namely Madras Central and Madras Beach. While three sectors are operated on-grade, the fourth sector is majorly an elevated corridor, which links Madras Beach to Velachery and is interlinked with the remaining rail network. Construction is underway for an underground and elevated Rapid Transit System locally known as Madras Metro Rail. There is also a proposal to construct a monorail network to augment the existing public transportation system in the city.
Madras houses several theme parks, namely MGM Dizzee World and Queens Land. The safety of several amusement parks has been questioned after several fatal accidents occurred.
Madras i/t??’na?/ (unofficially known by its former name, Madras i/m?’dr??s/) is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal, it is a major commercial, cultural, economic and educational center in South India. It is also known as the “Cultural Capital of South India” and was declared as the most liveable city in India by the Institute of Competitiveness on account of economic, social, security and medical conditions as parameters.
Madras is a major centre for music, art and culture in India. The city is known for its classical dance shows. In 1930, for the first time in India, Madras University introduced a course of music, as part of the Bachelor of Arts curriculum. The Madras Music Season, initiated by Madras Music Academy in 1927, is celebrated every year during the month of December. It features performances of traditional Carnatic music by many artists in and around the city. An arts festival called the Madras Sangamam, which showcases not only various arts of Tamil Nadu but also from the neighbouring states, like kalari (from Kerala), which is a major attraction, is held in January every year. The Speciality of Madras Sangamam is that the various programs are held near or at the various famous landmarks in the city so that everyone in the city has access to the programs and there is no fee charged for entry for any of the programs. Madras is also known for Bharata Natyam, a classical dance form that originated in Tamil Nadu and is the oldest dance form of India. An important cultural centre for Bharata Natyam is Kalakshetra, on the beach in the south of the city. In 2012, a group of five Bharatha Natyam dancers from Madras performed at the India Campaign during the 2012 Summer Olympics. Madras is also home to some choirs, who during the Christmas season stage various carol performances across the city in Tamil and English.
Madras is also the birthplace of several regional political movements since the British era. South Indian Welfare Association, one of the earliest regional parties, was founded in 1916, which later came to be known as the Justice Party, which was the main opposition party to the Indian National Congress in the state. In 1944, the party was renamed Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) by E. V. Ramasami (popularly known as ‘Periyar’). The party was a non-political party that demanded the establishment of an independent state called Dravida Nadu. However, due to the differences between its two leaders Periyar and C. N. Annadurai, the party was split. Annadurai left the party to form the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The DMK decided to enter into politics in 1956.